


Christmas Break

by LittlesWords



Series: Break [1]
Category: Harry Potter - Fandom, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Fandom, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Friends to Lovers, Hogsmeade, Hogwarts Sixth Year, M/M, Pining, Romance, Slow Burn, boy they want each other, yuleball
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-18
Updated: 2017-02-02
Packaged: 2018-09-17 22:14:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 15,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9348710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittlesWords/pseuds/LittlesWords
Summary: It's Albus and Scorpius' 6th year at Hogwarts. There is a short week till Christmas break. Albus has decided to stay at Hogwarts since Scorpius does. But the two week-long holiday doesn't go quite as straight-forward as the boys originally thought.





	1. Wednesday , 9.30 pm, December 14th

**Author's Note:**

> The fanfic will be updated at any time of the day, any day of the week, all according to the events in it. Stay tuned! x  
> It's set in 2022 since it's the boys' sixth year there. So the dates won't fit 2017.

There was a short week till Christmas break; Albus had decided that he wanted to stay at Hogwarts since Scorpius did. He hadn't told Albus why, but he had a hunch that it probably had something to do with the falling out between him and Mr. Malfoy that happened some weeks ago, because since then, Scorpius had turned his back on the world and buried his nose in more books than he normally would, but always with Albus by his side, let it be in the library or common room or somewhere out on the grounds (at one point Albus had found him in the owlery, reading to their family owl).

  
 Right now, Scorpius sat in one of the sofas that faced the huge windows, half reading, half staring mindlessly at merpeople who swam past from time to time. He was resting his elbow on the back of the sofa and played with a hair strand. The common room buzzed from chatters in the other sofas, sometimes you’d hear groans from students who were working on particularly difficult assignments, the clinging noise of a teaspoon stirring in a cup of tea or the shuffling sound of a deck of cards.  
 Albus lied in front of him by the big fireplace, doing some homework for Potions; he'd finally gotten the hang of it around last year, a few months after he’d done brilliant in Charms (it’d left him speechless for almost three days), something that had given him a confidence boost beyond belief. He'd started to talk with more people and it seemed like he'd also started to enjoy the other classes than just Charms – he’d even let Rose off the ‘I don’t particularly like you’-hook, something that’d made Scorpius prouder than a hippogriff. Albus was twirling his quill in his left hand with his lips tightened into a thoughtful grimace, flapping his legs in the air. This motion distracted Scorpius; with a deep sigh, he shut his book with a ‘thud!’ to draw Albus’ attention to him.

  
 It didn’t work.

  
He sighed again, deeper and louder this time and kept staring at the black-haired boy in front of him. Albus' thick hair looked like a pigeon’s nest although Scorpius was quite sure that he’d seen such nests that were neater than his best friend’s hair. The other boy still seemed to not have noticed that he tried to get his attention (or maybe he had but just enjoyed seeing Scorpius make a fool out of himself).  
“Al.” Scorpius finally spoke when he got tired of trying. Albus didn’t even lift as much as a finger to signal that he’d heard him. “Albus.” Scorpius said a bit sterner than before.  
 Still no reaction.  
Merlin’s bloody beard, he thought and threw his book in the cushions, cracking his fingers – this called for more desperate measures, he thought as he got up and stood next to the boy on the floor, tapping his foot with crossed arms. He gave the other ten seconds to turn his attention to him but seeing he didn’t, Scorpius rolled up his shirt-sleeves, cracked his fingers once again and dumped himself on Albus.

  
“OW!” his friend cried out when he felt himself get pressed down in the rug from the weight of the Malfoy, sitting on his lower back. He heard a smug chuckle behind him and awkwardly turned his upper body to look at his friend. “Why?” was all he could say.  
Scorpius shrugged with a grimace, “you didn’t answer me,”. Albus rolled his eyes with a dramatic groan.  
“I’m sorry, your highness,” he said with a little bow of his head, his fringe covered his green eyes when he looked up again (he tried to blow the hair away but one try and he gave up). “What did you want?” asked he with a shrug as he turned his attention back the Potions homework.  
“I wanted you to stop flapping your legs like a thunderbird’s wings,” Scorpius smiled, “but look!” he gestured to Albus’ legs, “you’ve stopped!” chuckling proudly of him being funny, he ruffled the other’s hair. “How is it going?” he shifted so half of him lied on Albus’ back, nesting his arms and looked him over the shoulder.  
“I’d rather be kissed by a dementor right now than doing _this_.” The boy said through gritted teeth and sighed as he ran his hand through his hair, making it stand up in small curls. “I-I just don’t understand it, Scorp!” he jostled under Scorpius so he could look at him. “Help me,” his eyebrows rose in a pleading expression, he even made a little pout!  
“Alright, buddy,” Scorpius couldn’t help but smile when he slid down next to Albus on the rug, “what is it you don’t get?”  
“This.”

  
Albus smacked his index finger on the word _Amortentia_ and looked Scorpius dead in the eye. “I don’t like the sound of it.” He said with a grave voice and a slow head-shake. Scorpius nodded slowly, not taking his eyes off the word.  
“What is it you don’t understand about that?” he looked confused at the other. They’d known enough in their fourth year to save their lives? He was just about point that out to his friend but got interrupted when a shadow fell on them.  
The two boys looked up and stared at Debra Henson, Slytherin’s female prefect; she stood with her hands on her hips and looked at the two of them. Scorpius immediately gave her a hostile look.  
“What do you want?” he snapped at her, making Albus turn his head sharply to look him. He raised his eyebrow at him with his head slightly tilted in a ‘what is wrong?’-expression. Scorpius made a little shrug, only for Albus to see.  
Henson didn’t let Scorpius’ harsh tone get to her, still looking at Albus before saying: “Albus, do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?” she asked with a cheerful smile. He blinked a few times – what were he to say? Turn her down? Lie? He didn’t like this, he could feel that right away. Scorpius’ eyes fell on him with a firm look.  
“Well…” he finally spoke, eyes on her when his head turned to Scorpius, seeking help; he nervously twirled his quill between his fingers, obviously trying to find an excuse for not going with her. But honestly, he didn’t have an excuse she'd like. “I – “

  
“He promised he’d go with Rose.” Scorpius butted in, literally shoving himself in front of Albus so he couldn’t do anything but make an angry muffled sound. What the hell was he playing at? Albus thought with wide eyes and eyebrows raised. “Family time.” The blonde sneered, clearly trying his best to discourage her.  
“Fine.” Henson shrugged nonchalantly, “whatever.” Sucking her cheeks in with a little nod, she looked at Albus one last time before turning on her heel and scurried back to her friends in a corner.  
 Scorpius moved away from his friend with a relieved sigh and ran his hand through his hair, smiling at Albus. He looked so proud, the other thought and arched both eyebrows.  
“What the _hell_ was that about?” Albus hissed through his gritted teeth; he was looking around in the common room to check if anyone’d seen their little controversy with the Prefect. A few girls in the sofa suite on their left watched them with judging glances, but looked away when the boy met their eyes. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his friend act… jealous? He thought with a little groan.  
“You promised you’d go with me!” Scorpius muttered a bit annoyed.  
“I know, but you’ve ruined it now!” he hissed with a scrunch of his nose so it looked like a tiger’s nose. “Now I _have_ to bring Rose with me!” Albus buried his face in his hands with a discontented noise.

  
 Oh – Scorpius realised that he hadn’t given that a thought. He face-palmed himself and dragged his hand down his face. A for effort though, he thought with a little shrug. Never mind; he got up on his knees to stretch his aching back and were rewarded with a symphony of cracking sounds all the way up his spine. The other boy followed him with his emerald green eyes and a raised brow (his favourite expression, it seemed), now tapping the quill-tip on the rug and ran his hand through his tousled hair. Scorpius held his hand out to his friend to help him up, but got a quiet ‘not now’ that made him frown slightly. You sure? He asked and got a short ‘yes’ before Albus turned back to his homework.

  
 Oh.

  
With a trembling exhale, Scorpius walked a few steps backwards to see if his friend would follow but when he didn’t, he turned around and scampered to his dorm. He half-slammed the door shut and dumped himself on his bed, rubbing his face with a tired groan. “That went well,” he muttered sarcastically to himself and stared up in the bed’s ceiling, shortly going over the last half hour in his mind. He wasn’t sure of why he’d reacted the way he did, really; he lowered his hands and let them glide down on to the bed, starting to think about his reaction. As far as he could remember, he hadn’t acted like this since Delphi nor felt the hot ball of annoyance in his stomach.  
 With a groan, he got up and grabbed his pyjamas and toothbrush, chuffing down the corridor to the bathrooms to change. When he got back to the dorm, he almost bumped into Albus, who was going the way he had just come from. He got a little smile and a pet on the shoulder before the boy walked past him with his Holyhead Harpies-pyjamas in his hand. Scorpius couldn’t help but smile to himself as he entered the dorm, shaking his head lightly; the green colour really suited Albus’ brown skin (and matched his eyes, he added in his silent mind).

  
 As he lied down in his bed, his thoughts travelled a few years back to their… adventures with the Time Turner to the alternate universe, where he got called Scorpion King. The thought sent shudders down his spine and he quickly shook off the thoughts. He caught a glimpse of Albus returning and muttered a tired ‘goodnight’ with a little smile.  
“Night, Scorp,” he heard Albus yawn from behind the curtain. He drew the curtains and lied on his side, falling asleep with a smile on his lips.


	2. Thursday, 6.36am-12.30pm, December 15th

Albus (and the four other boys with whom he shared dorm) got woken up by his alarm clock; he quickly turned in his bed to stop the damn noise, sighing in relief when the clock stopped screaming at him. He ended up just hanging there between his bed and the nightstand, half asleep until he fell out of the bed with a thud. Some of the other guys laughed groggily at the sight of him slumping down on the floor. He sat up with a groan, his black hair spiked out to every corner of the compass.  
“Morning,” he looked up when he heard Scorpius' tired chuckle, the other stood right in front of him and held his hand out to him. Albus smiled drowsy and grasped it, letting Scorpius pull him to stand on his feet. “Slept well?”

  
 Albus answered this with a nod as he tried to pat his wild hair down a bit (that didn’t work, just for the record). He really wasn’t up for morning small-talk; he had this piercing thought in the back of his head, that made him nervous for the upcoming Potions-class, where they had to work with Amortentia. He wasn’t sure why it made him nervous, really, he just knew that the cold anchor in his chest stemmed from there.  
 Thus, he didn’t speak the whole morning, not during breakfast nor in Charms and certainly not when Scorpius and he started to walk down the stairs to the dungeons. Scorpius sensed his friend’s unease but didn’t know what to say to make him feel better; without a second thought, he took Albus’ hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze and a smile followed, when he locked eyes with the black-haired boy.

  
“I don’t know why you’re worried, Al, but I’m sure it’s nothing,” Scorpius said and put his arm around the other’s shoulder, leaning in so only he could hear his words.  
“Thanks, Scorp,” a little smile broke on Albus’ lips when their eyes met – emeralds looking in to apophyllite crystals. He felt a weird clutch in his stomach in this little moment. Ow? He thought and opened his mouth to say something but what should he say? So, there he stood and opened and closed his mouth like a cod, fishing for the right words.  
“Just kiss already!” a voice grinned behind them; Albus flung himself away from Scorpius with an embarrassed, crimson red blush across his face. He stared down in the floor, facing away from whoever had said it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Scorpius stand the same way he did. Tensed shoulders, bright-red blush (it looked worse on him due to his pale skin) and a weird ‘this is SO interesting’-stare in the floor. Merlin’s bloody beard! He thought with a pained expression, squinting his eyes.

  
“Is it legal to hire dementors to kiss me?” he groaned after minutes of awkward silence, when everyone had passed and dumped his forehead against the cold wall.  
Scorpius snorted and looked sideways at him, his fringe in front of his eyes. “If you do, please hire two!” The little laugh that followed immediately blew the tension between them away, the boys faced each other with wide smiles. “Voldemort on a broomstick, we’re late for class!” the blonde suddenly exclaimed. Albus cast a short glance at his wrist-watch.  
“For once, you’re right!” he huffed and he broke into run, his footsteps echoed all the way down the corridor, so loudly that any stranger would’ve thought it was an Erumpent in rutting, bulldozing its way.  
Once in front of the closed door to the Potions classroom, the boys leant against the wall to catch their breath. Albus brushed his shaggy hair away from his eyes with a chuffing chuckle, glancing at Scorpius with raised brows. Professor Goodwin wouldn’t be pleased, but what the heck? Scorpius knocked his knuckles on the door. Come in! it sounded more annoyed than cross, which was a good sign.  
“Sorry, we’re late,” they said in sync before staring at each other.  
“They were too busy snogging in the corridor~” Albus recognised the voice and his eyes found the git from just before.

  
 A Gryffindor.

  
Why didn’t that surprise him? He shook his head at the boy with a judging eyebrow, pretty much saying ‘duel me’. Scorpius, on the other hand, blushed flustered and stuttered some ‘n-n-no’s and ‘w-w-we, erh’ until Albus hit him on the arm (that idiot was only making it worse!).  
Professor Goodwin cleared his throat with a strained glare, first at the Gryffindor-boy then at the Slytherins. “J-just find a seat!” he grumbled at them with a wave of his hand. They made their way to the back of the classroom where their usual seats were and found their books. Albus suddenly remembered that he never finished his homework last evening and hissed in annoyance as he fished his book, quill and ink out of his rucksack. He’d lied and stared into the fire, thinking and wondering why he felt so uneasy about this class in particular – Amortentia, he’d realised, how on earth had he forgotten that from yesterday night?! Not the whole brewing it and writing about it, but _it_ – its smells. As he’d read the other night about it (believe it or not, he’d forgotten quite a good deal about the potion since their fourth year), he’d come across that it would smell of the three things one liked the most or associated with love. In truth, he was scared for what his three scents would be, what if they had to say what they could smell, a lot of ‘what if’s’ had ran through his head and made him so tired, that he’d given up on reading and had gone to bed.

  
“Amortentia!” professor Goodwin clapped his hands together in a ‘CLASP’ and looked over the classroom. “Love potion. Who can tell me about this little devil-brew?” no-one raised their hand so he simply pointed at someone. Reluctantly, they turned the pages over until they got to the potion in their book. This would take forever, thought Albus as he dropped his head into his nested arms with a silent sour sigh.  
 After what felt like an eternity, Goodwin finally said ‘Go!’ and the students got to the brewing.  
“What’s happening?” Albus quickly looked at Scorpius with confused eyes. “I didn’t listen!”  
“Brew it, then tell what you smell,” the blonde said while he looked the instructions over.  
“Individually?”  
“Yep.”

  
Damn it.

  
“You can’t help each other?”  
“Probably?”  
“Help.”  
 Scorpius turned his head to his friend. He looked like a deer in the headlights. Scorpius opened his mouth to say something, but Goodwin had been sneaking around the classroom to observe his students.  
“No cheating, Mr. Potter!” he lifted a warning finger and snapped his fingers to his book. “Now get on with it.”


	3. Thursday, 12.22pm, December 15th

“Now, Mr. Malfoy,” professor Goodwin waved the rest of the class to his and Albus’ table. Halfway through, Albus thought with pounding heart. Goodwin examined the bright-rosa liquid in the cauldron with slightly raised brows. After a few minutes in silence, he said: “Very good, Mr. Malfoy!” and looked at the blonde with an acknowledging nod. “What do you smell?” the class went silent; Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, the once thought son of Voldemort, what were his amortentia-scents? Even Albus held his breath, staring up at his friend with anticipation in his green eyes.  
“I smell…” Scorpius took a little breath, “I smell jasmine tea and… a summer night’s air and…” his brows creased for a second, “and bubblegum?”  
“Bubblegum?” professor Goodwin asked surprised. “That weird muggle stuff?” Scorpius nodded with a little blush. “Interesting, Mr. Malfoy. Well,” he moved on to Albus and examined his cauldron. “It’s acceptable, Potter.” These were his words but his face spoke differently. Whatever, Albus thought with a little eye-roll. “What do you smell?”  
“Nothing.” It blurted out of him.  
Scorpius' eyes clasped on him immediately with a startled glare, the rest of the class either gasped or started to whisper.  
“What?” professor Goodwin’s eyes widened slightly as he slowly stood up straight from his bend-over position over the cauldron. “You smell _nothing_?”. Albus nodded with his chin shot out a bit in a hostile posture. “Odd…” was all the professor could say and dismissed class, perplexed.


	4. Thursday, 1pm, December 15th

At lunch, Albus could barely eat a thing; he felt his classmates’ judging gazes on his back, so piercing that he thought he’d be sick. Even Scorpius stared at him from time to time, just more concerning than judging. Albus tugged on his ear and coughed to get his friend’s attention.  
Scorpius ran his eyes over him before speaking: “Did you really not smell anything?” he sounded astonished and concerned. “Nothing at all?” Albus knew that the other would be pumped for answers by their classmates after lunch if he told him…  
“No.” Albus shrugged with one shoulder and folded his arms in front of him after he’d pushed the empty plate away, regretting that he’d ever opened his mouth. “It just smelled like…” another little shrug, “like everyday-life?”  
“Everyday-life?” the blonde scoffed.  
“Yes, like everyday-life!” Albus snapped as he slammed his hands on the table, suddenly standing up. “What does that make me? Heartless?” his voice trembled as he rubbed the nape of his neck, his hand then travelled up to run through his shaggy hair, his eyes darted around the Great Hall.  
“No, Albus, it…” Scorpius reached for the black-haired boy's hand with a frown, but stopped in his movement when he saw that half of the people in the Great Hall stared at them.  
“Never mind!” Albus sighed and grabbed his rucksack, flinging it over his shoulder and almost hit a poor first-year Hufflepuff in the head. With a last stare at the other, he drew a shaking breath and stomped out of the Great Hall.


	5. Thursday, 1.10pm, December 15th

Albus stormed outside to the grounds, heading for the lake where he could gather his thoughts. Everyday-life? He thought when he dumped himself on a large root that stuck up from the ground after he’d dusted a good layer of snow away. What did he even mean with that? What did everyday-life smell of? With a frustrated groan, he buried his face in his hands. Great – now he wasn’t Harry Potter’s son anymore nor the Slytherin Squib, now he was Harry Potter’s heartless Slytherin squib son. He imagined that the Gryffindor-guy would take full advantage of this.  
 Maybe even try to ruin his trip to Hogsmeade with Scorpius!  
“Merlin’s bloody beard!” he groaned and leant back against the tree. His thoughts started to wander and ended up on Scorpius and his three scents. What were they again? He thought with furrowed brows… a summer night’s air and… “jasmine tea?” he muttered with his head tilted to the side. “A summer night’s air and jasmine tea and – “

  
“Bubblegum.”

  
Albus flinched, resulting in him hurting his elbow. “Scorp!” he gasped. The blonde smiled as he sat next to him, pulling his knees to his chest and nested his arms there.  
“The one and only,” he chuckled. “A summer night’s air, jasmine tea and bubblegum,”  
“How did the bubblegum happen?” Albus asked and got a shrug as answer. “Have you actually ever tried it?” Albus searched through his pockets and took out a little pink pack. “Try,” said he as he put the pack in Scorpius’ hand.  
 Scorpius’ face wrinkled like a raisin. “I’ve heard that you can choke on it…” he muttered slowly but took a piece after all and examined it thoroughly.  
“Come on!” Albus nudged the good elbow against his friend’s arm. “It’s just smaller than Drooble’s Blewing Gum and it can’t blow just as big bubbles!”  
He got rewarded with a shaking laugh and wide eyes from his comment but even better – Scorpius put the gum in his mouth and chewed carefully. His nose crinkled like Danish pastry and his eyes narrowed. Albus studied his face with a light smile and rested his chin on his arms, head slightly tilted.

  
“So?” he spoke after a while.  
“It neither tastes or smells like the bubblegum I like,” Scorpius answered with his eyes squinted and eyebrows raised. “How can muggles just… chew this?” he spat it out with a sour sound. Albus raised his finger to tell Scorpius that he shouldn’t do that since birds would eat it and die because they choked on it. His friend’s eyes widened at his words and quickly picked it up in a leaf, Incendio’ing away.  
A friendly silence fell over them as they sat there, leaning against the big tree and watched the frozen lake. Sometimes, a big dark shadow would appear underneath the ice, probably the great octopus that thought it would say hello, but found out that it couldn’t and descended back into the black water, swimming with the merpeople and whatnot that lived in the lake (Albus remembered that his father had once told him that there lived Grindylows in the lake, although he’d never seen one swim past the big windows). He glanced shortly at his friend whom had closed his eyes and rested his head against the tree. First now he noticed how tired the other looked; he had dark circles under his eyes, he seemed even paler than his usual teint and his cheeks appeared hollow. Albus wondered shortly about what he should do if Scorpius fell asleep. To leave him or not to leave him? He thought before tucking Scorpius in in his robes so he wouldn’t catch a cold. His grip lingered on the robes when a thought struck him like lightening.

  
 Everyday-life.

  
This was everyday life... Scorpius’ robes always had a light hint of hot chocolate and that pleasant smell of old books.  
“Voldemort on a broomstick…” he gasped quietly, his grip tightened. A quick glance around them – no-one was there, everyone was probably attending their last classes. With a deep breath, as if he breathed in courage, he leant forward and rested his cheek against Scorpius’ temple. His hair smelled like the sweet air after it’d snowed, he thought with a little smile. The blonde made a little sound and shifted where he sat, his head dumping down on Albus shoulder.  
 Well then.  
With another glance around them, he wrapped his arm around Scorpius’ shoulder with a sigh. So, he thought with a little smile, this is what ‘everyday-life’ smells like.  
 Oh well.


	6. Thursday, 5.30pm, December 15th

“Where on _Earth_ have you been?” Rose hissed at her cousin the moment she saw him enter the Great Hall for dinner. “You missed Transfiguration and Herbology! Neville wasn’t happy with you!” she then went on complaining about something that really didn’t matter, something about Quidditch, so Albus put her on mute. Scorpius walked on his left side, smiling groggily to him.  
“Thank you for letting me sleep,” Scorpius leant in and whispered in his ear as they walked to their long-table and found a seat. When they sat, Albus’ ears were as red as a Chinese Fireball’s scale and they could probably light up the Great Hall if the lights went out. “You’ll have to eat now,” his friend said and shovelled food on his plate, placing it in front of Albus who sighed at him. “Eat. You’ll feel better!”  
 Albus stared blankly at the roast, buttered peas and mashed potatoes with a raised eyebrow – it felt like his head had been invaded by wrackspurts and it made him dizzy. He quickly grabbed a jug of pumpkin-juice and poured a goblet to himself, chugging it down without taking a moment to breathe. He gasped when he slammed the goblet in the table.  
“A…are you okay?” Scorpius stared at the black-haired boy with wide eyes and furrowed brows. Albus nodded with his eyes fixed at the jug before filling his goblet with more, quaffing it right down while the blonde’s eyes widened at every gulp. The goblet got slammed in the table once again. “Good thing it’s not firewhiskey,” Scorpius muttered before returning to his food, now seriously concerned for his friend. Albus had been acting strange since he woke up; Scorpius wondered if he’d done something wrong, if it was because of him that Albus was acting so weird.  
 No.  
He’d been acting weird since the Potions-class, Scorpius thought as he chewed on the inside of his cheek, mindlessly poking the fork on his lips. He’d put the world on mute to be able to think but were pulled back to reality by Albus’ hand that took the fork from him, shaking his head at him with a soft smile that reached his eyes and made them sparkle. Scorpius blushed lightly and looked down in his food with a little smile on his lips.


	7. Friday, 1.45 pm, December 16th

Albus was looking anxiously around the Great Hall, trying to spot his cousin. It shouldn’t have been so hard, he’d thought but it turned out that there was a fair share of red-haired kids in Gryffindor’s sixth year (did Weasleys just multiply at default? He thought). He sighed as he tapped the end of the knife in the table and cast a glance over the hall again – yes! He spotted her on her way out. Shit! Albus stumbled up, almost falling over the bench, and scurried down to her.  
“Rose!” he grabbed her shoulder to stop her. She turned around and looked at him with a raised eyebrow, a scary imitation of himself. “I thought…” his words trailed off when one of Rose’s friends stared at him. He shot his chin out a little and straightened his back to appear taller. His cousin nodded to her friend and she went with the other girls. “I thought maybe you’d go with me to Hogsmeade tomorrow?” he smiled to her with his head slightly tilted.  
She laughed.  
No, she guffawed. Loud, evilly guffawed at him. Albus’ face wrinkled into a sour expression; stupid cousin! He thought and crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for her to stop ridicule him. She pulled herself together several minutes later (most definitely overdoing it all) and shook her shoulders to shuffle her robes back in place.  
“Go with you to Hogsmeade?” her tone wore traces of mocking and pity. “Are you that desperate? You do know that everyone knows I’m your cousin, right?” once again, she mimicked him, this time by crossing her arms over her chest.  
“You know what, forget that I asked!” he hissed with warm cheeks. “W-why do you always mock me?” Albus glared at her in disbelief. “Is it because I’m in Slytherin?”  
“Albus, wait – “ she started, looking startled at his reaction. She’d only meant to tease him.  
“Is it because I’m friends with Scorpius?” he took a step closer.  
“Al – “  
“Don’t ‘Al’ me!” he hissed and stuck his face close to hers. it was only Scorpius who was allowed to call him that. “Why can’t you just act like a normal person for two seconds?” and with those words, he turned on his heel and stomped off to Transfigurations, leaving his cousin baffled and a bit hurt.


	8. Saturday, 12.05pm-2pm, December 17th

Scorpius checked his satchel again – wallet, a bottle of pumpkin juice, an extra pair of mittens – it was all there. He nodded to himself and looked one more time in the mirror on the wall. Yep. He’d been looking forward to the Hogsmeade-trip with Albus all week! He wrapped his thick silver and green-scarf around his neck, making a neat knot and got his boots on. All set, he thought and waltzed out of the door, up the stairs and half ran, half stumbled over to Albus whom were waiting a bit further ahead, putting on his mittens.  
Scorpius clasped his hands on his friend’s shoulders, smiling: “Ready?” and adjusted Albus’ knitted silver and green-beanie so it covered his ears. Not even the beanie could win the fight against the boy’s wild hair. Long strands stuck out here and there and it was clear to see that Albus had tried to get it under control, but Scorpius couldn’t figure out how or with what. He squinted his eyes with a little smile when he spotted an odd-looking circle in a ringlet; he lifted his hand to take it but Albus moved away with a little blush. What? Scorpius’ smile widened as he let his hand linger in the air. The other groaned annoyed with an eye-roll but turned back to his friend with his head tilted, not meeting his gaze and nodded to let him touch his hair.

  
 A hair elastic.

  
Scorpius laughed while fiddling it out of Albus’ big hair; it’d somehow entangled itself into his hair, that it was almost impossible to find head and tail in it. Just leave it, Albus muttered after the blonde had tried to get it out for some minutes, and tucked the ringlets up under his beanie with a little pout. Scorpius stuck his hands in his pockets with a little smile, sighing at the other. He nodded to the stone wall that lead out to the dungeon corridors and they walked in friendly silence, down the corridors, up the stairs, outside in the snow; soon they ran and threw snowballs after each other, tried to dunk one another in a nearby snow pile and if they succeeded, they would just lie there and make a snow angel before getting up and sprinting after the other, whom had left them behind. They’d probably hit a poor passer-by with a snowball but did they care?

  
 No.

  
The snow-covered landscape swallowed all sound around them so only they could hear each other’s mocking jokes and laughter. Albus yelled at Scorpius to get his attention and sent a snowball right in his pretty face, making him stumbled a few steps backwards. Albus made a ‘yikes’-grimace and ran up to his friend to make sure he was okay.  
He was _very_ much okay! One second Albus was looking down at the other, the next he kissed the snow. Merlin’s frozen – it’s cold! he cried out and quickly got on his feet, brushing snow away to prevent it from slipping under his clothes at some uncovered place of his body (if such place existed right now). Ugh, his head felt cold! No wonder – Scorpius had taken his knitted beanie from him and held it up in the air, clearly hoping that his shorter friend would try to reclaim it. But he quickly changed his mind when Albus took out his wand with a mischievous expression, panting lightly; his hair was wild, like hawthorn thicket, the only thing that seemed just a bit under control was his bangs, that framed his face in a way Scorpius had never noticed, the white snowflakes sprinkled over his black hair like small crystals. He caught himself gawking at Albus, it made him blush Gryffindor-red (good thing it was cold, he could always blame it on the cold, yep, it was the cold). Scorpius couldn’t help but waving the beanie a bit, teasing him.

  
“Scorpius, I will jinx you!” Albus laughed and made a sudden step forward, flicking his wand to trick the other and it worked; the blonde eeped and threw the beanie back to his friend. He laughed at him, reassuring him that he’d never jinx him when he caught his beanie and pulled it over his hair, while walking up to the taller friend with a nod to the path to Hogsmeade. The rest of the way, they talked about this and that, all sorts of things. Albus brought up that he looked forward to when their potions-master would come back from her leave. Professor Goodwin was getting on his already non-existing nerves. What a stupid substitute! He growled and kicked the snow. Scorpius rubbed his shoulder to show that he agreed with him.  
“Oh no.” Albus stopped in his tracks.  
The other followed his gaze and saw Rose and some guy walk in their direction, laughing. The guy snickered when he saw them and pointed in their direction. Scorpius tightened his grip on Albus’ shoulder as a reminder to not stick his wand up his –

  
“Cousin!” Rose called and nodded to him when they came up to them. She looked a bit at her cousin then at the taller boy next to him. “Scorpius,” she nodded stiffly to him before gesturing to the boy next to her. He had short dark brown hair, sharp facial features and a pair of warm brown eyes. He was a bit taller than Scorpius, but quite slender so he seemed even taller. His lips were twisted into a smirk, his eyes rested on the hand on Albus’ shoulder. Rose noticed the glances between the three boys, sensing the tension. “This is Karl Jenkins!” she whacked the back of her hand on the taller boy’s chest, causing a hollow ‘oompf!’-sound from him. “Karl, my cousin Albus and his bo– “  
Albus shot her a glare that could kill. Come to think of it, he probably wanted to kill her in this moment and might even have done it, if Scorpius hadn’t been there. He jutted his chin, his cheeks started to glow bright-red; if he hadn’t hidden his hands in his pockets, the others could see how he clenched his fists so hard that the knuckles turned white. Scorpius felt his friend’s body tense under his hand. He wanted to say something, anything, but what? Flustered, he looked away when he pulled his hand to him.

  
“Albus’ _best_ friend, Scorpius…” Rose corrected herself. “Best friend.” She looked up at the Gryffindor-boy, trying to emphasize ‘best friend’ with a sharp nod. It hadn’t even been necessary to introduces them! Karl Jenkins were the one to call Albus ‘Slytherin Squib’ back in their first year! Her eyes fell back on Albus; the cold air gave away his short, heavy huffs from his nose as he most likely tried to restrain himself from strangling her.  
He gritted his teeth before speaking, curt: “Don’t you have places to go?”  
“We do!” said Jenkins – that voice. His green eyes widened. _That_ was the git whom had bantered him and Scorpius in the dungeon-corridor the other day. Jenkins smiled at Albus, well-knowing that the Slytherin had put two and two together and gotten four. “Rose,” he put his arm around her shoulder, giving it a friendly shake, “Shrieking Shack?”. She nodded and pulled him with her, mouthed a little ‘I’m sorry!’ when she passed Albus.

  
Once out of sight, Albus roared furiously after them (they probably heard it though) and kicked the snow.  
“Those foul, evil gargoyles!” he hissed when he’d calmed down a bit. Scorpius watched his friend carefully before taking his hand, giving it a little squeeze. Their eyes met for a moment in a silent agreement that Rose’d been an idiot just before.  
“Do you still want to go?” Scorpius asked quietly.  
“Yep,” Albus nodded, “I won’t let her ruin my day!” he sent the other a little, strained smile.  
 They soon reached the high street in Hogsmeade; Scorpius immediately dragged his shorter friend with him to Honeydukes and filled a whole bag with Pepper Imps, while Albus variated his sweets from Acip Pops to Glacial Snowflakes, maybe a few Sugar Quills (he used to suck on them when he had to think doing homework) and some liquorice wands.  
“All – Scorp!” he laughed when he saw the overfilled paper bag in Scorpius’ hand. “Only pepper imps?” he asked with a smile that reached his green eyes. The other looked a bit away, pursing his lips. “Idiot,” he sighed and paid the lady behind the counter. He told Scorpius he was waiting outside, when he put his paper bag with sweets in his satchel before exiting Honeydukes. He looked at the goblin choir, humming along with some of their carols.

  
“What now?” Scorpius put his hands on his shoulders with a little jump, bringing him a bit to his knees. He was about to complain but instead he laughed heartfelt with him, their goofy laughter probably drew the other wizards and witches’ attention to them.  
 Albus swore that he’d seen two witches smile at them, when they later walked aimlessly around Hogsmeade.  
“Cold?” Scorpius said at some point and stopped in his tracks. The black-haired boy questioning tilted his head at him. “Your cheeks,” he let the back of his finger touch the other’s cheek for a second, “they’re red. Are you cold?” he smiled.  
“A little,” Albus nodded, realising he was freezing! “Butterbeer?” he pointed to the Three Broomsticks a bit down the street. The blonde shook his head, stuffing his cold hands in his pockets. “Hog’s Head??” his green eyes widened. Scorpius shook his head once again, now blushing. “But then – “ oh. Oh!  
“No!” he exclaimed and walked a few steps away, hands in the air. “I’d rather be tortured than go _there_!”  
“Al, please!” Scorpius pleaded and followed him. “It’s the only place I know where we can get tea!”  
“ _Tea_?” the other repeated in a high-pitched voice.  
“Yes, tea!”  
“You’ve been there before?”  
“Once!”  
“ _Once_!?” Albus couldn’t believe his own ears. “You’ve been to Puddifoot’s once?” with who? Why? When? These thoughts shot through his mind, leaving him staring at his friend with blank eyes. “It’s only silly, head-over-heels in love couples who goes there! P-people will talk!” he looked away with a blush.

_This is my cousin, Albus, and his bo-_ , Rose’s voice echoed in his head. His boyfriend… he looked up at Scorpius who stood and watched at him with pleading eyes and lifted eyebrows, mouthed a little ‘pleeeease’ when their eyes met. “Alright!” Albus hissed with an eye-roll. “Might as well just fuel the fire ourselves!” he added darkly when he followed Scorpius to Madam Puddifoot’s.  
The place was even more horrifying than Albus’d imagined at first; a bell over the door tinkled cheerfully above his head when he stepped in and almost tripped over his own feet, distracted by gawking at the sight of small, round tables with frilly tablecloths, crocheted napkins and sugar bowls made of pastel-red china. He could’ve sworn that the sugar had the same colour as its container but couldn’t think the thought through before a waitress came up to them.  
“Welcome to Madam Pudditfoot’s!” she flashed them a perfect smile, worthy enough to be in a muggle commercial for toothpaste and guided them to a table, facing the windows. “What can I get you two?” her eyes darted between them. Albus couldn’t help but stare at her slightly manic smile while he slid his coat off, hanging it over the back rest. It was quite clear that it was practiced to perfection, even though she was probably dying on the inside from working here, he thought.

  
Scorpius noticed the other’s hesitation and said: “A hot chocolate, please. No whipped cream.”  
The waitress nodded and wrote it on her pink notepad. “And you?” she looked at Albus.  
“Jasmine tea?” he shrugged and bit his lip a bit.  
She put it down, too and with another pearl-white smile, she walked away.  
“Jasmine tea?” Albus looked at Scorpius when he spoke.  
“Yes?” he shrugged once again, “I love jasmine tea,”  
 The blonde nodded slowly, looking away; his eyes travelled from one couple to another, fingers intertwined and leant over their table to kiss, some sat and fed each other cake, quite stereotypically ‘silly, head-over-heels in love couples’ as Albus had said earlier. He looked apologising at his friend. Albus rolled his eyes with a little smile in the corners of his mouth. Now they were here and they might as well get the best out of it! He leant back in the chair; it was comfortable, sitting on a big cushion and leaning against a padded back rest, he thought as he crossed his legs and bounced his foot a bit with his hands in his lap.  
 What’s wrong? He asked Scorpius when he saw his mindless stare. Nothing, was the answer and got a fond smile that reached the crystal grey eyes, so they shone like stars, but he looked away before Albus’d had the time to savour it.

  
“It’s the tea, isn’t it?”  
Scorpius’ head flew back with a frown on his face.  
“Your mum used to drink it,” Albus at up straight and leant a bit forward, “remember when you gave me a little bag around this size,” he stretched his middle finger six-nine centimetres apart, “with it for my birthday a few years ago? It was so good!” he smiled heartily at the little memory. He was just about to say some more to cheer his friend up but got interrupted by the waitress.  
“Here you go…” her smiled strained slightly as she balanced the tray with milk and biscuits, when placing the filled cups. “There!” she nodded to them and chuffed off to another table. Albus took his cup and put two sugars in it (it really had the same colour as the china), stirring, until the sugar dissolved. He took a sip.  
“Ergh!” he scrunched his nose with a sad smile, making Scorpius laugh heartfelt. “I have too high tea standards!”


	9. Saturday, 10.10pm, December 17th

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brace yourself, drama is coming

Albus sat in one of the far-off sofas with Scorpius lying between his legs, his head leaning against his chest, both reading. He supported the book on the back of the sofa, resting his cheek on his fist; they’d only just made it back in time for dinner and after that they wandered around the castle, aimlessly. They had ended up in the astronomy tower where they’d just stood and stared at the surrounding landscape. They’d gone back to the common room when the curfew-bell had rung at nine and barricaded themselves in their dorm, eating sweets, until a Head Boy had thrown them up in the common room.

  
So here they were, had been for a good half an hour, reading. Albus covered his mouth when a yawn escaped his lips. Scorpius moved his head a bit back to look at his friend.  
“Tired?” he muttered.  
“Nah,” he said slowly, not taking his eyes off the page. “You?”  
“Nope,” Scorpius shook his head.  
“Okay,” Albus shortly ran his hand through the blonde’s hair with a little smile, “you should push it back sometimes,” he played with a ringlet before he placed his hand next to his thigh, “could look good on you!”  
The other laughed a bit and turned around with nested arms on his stomach. “Pushed back?” he repeated. “Like my father had in his first years?”  
Okay, when he said it like that, Albus could see that it wasn’t the most flattering thing he’d just said. He made a little face and nodded before returning to his book again, after he’d cast a glance at his wrist-watch. 10.10. He closed the book with a little ‘bump!’ and placed it on top of Scorpius’ head, chuckling lightly. The other didn’t give two Galleons for it and kept on reading. Hm.

  
“Albus! Severus! Bloody Potter!”  
The boys flinched, somehow managing to bump their heads together; Debra Henson was storming in their direction with a flushed face, her fists clenched so hard that they were shaking. This bode ill, Albus thought and sat up straight, fixing his hair (why? No-one will probably never know). “You utter, nasty little Squib!” she yelled at him. A second later his cheek got kissed by a hard object.  
“W-what did I do!?” he exclaimed, flying up from his seat and manoeuvred around the sofa – he could always take cover behind it if she decided to throw more stuff after him.  
“Oh, as if you don’t know it!” Debra crossed her arms over her chest. No, really, what had he done? Albus searched his mind for every encounter with the girl, but – oh dear.  
“Look, if it’s about Hogsmeade,” he held his hands in front of him and backed away – she’d taken her wand out and pointed it directly at him, “I-I can explain!” Voldemort on a broomstick, had Rose been talking?  
“What’s there to explain?” the furious girl stepped closer. “You’re a lying idiot! Going with your cousin to Hogsmeade, my arse! I saw you and that…” she waved her wand in Scorpius direction. He quickly hid behind an arm rest, “that slimy Malfoy!”

  
What? Oh dear.

  
“I assure you, i-it’s not what you think!” he stuttered.  
“You two? You’re always like bowtruckles on doxy eggs, just how stupid could I be?!” her eyes started to tear up. Oh dear.  
“Debra, please – “  
“You two in Madam Puddifoot’s, I think that is proof enough!” she yelled again so the whole common room could hear her. Curious eyes stuck to them, some even got up from the sofas to get a closer look of the quarrel.  
“Shut up, Debra, and sit down before you embarrass yourself even further!” Albus lost his temper. He moved around the sofa and grabbed Scorpius by his sleeve, pulling him up. “Move.” He sneered at her with fire in his eyes. “Move or I will hex your sorry arse!” he flicked his wand out and poked her hard on the arm with its tip.  
 That made her bugger off!  
Pulling Scorpius with him, he stormed past her without looking at her nor anyone else; this would bite him on the butt later but right now he was too angry to give it a thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't kill me


	10. Wednesday, 2.35pm, December 21st

“Excited?” Albus asked, leaning on the handrail on the bridge that connected Hogwarts to the grounds and the path to the Owlery. Lily turned her eyes to him and nodded enthusiastic, a shy smile curved on her lips. He’d skipped all his classes that day, spent it with being in the library, aimlessly walking around the castle and talked to some of the ghosts before his little sister had grabbed him by the arm and started to walk and talk with him.  
“You?” she looked curiously at her brother. He shrugged; they’d always spent the Christmas break at home, so none of them had ever been to the Yule Ball, except James had in his fifth year and he’d briefly talked about it at some point but Albus hadn’t been all ears at that time (he was quite sure that James had been exaggerating though). He looked over the deep ravine with a sigh, pulled his green and silver scarf closer around his neck. He needed a partner. He could forget everything about going with Debra after what’d happened the other day. Ever since then, she’d shot him poisonous glances, hissed at him whenever she got the chance and refused to do _any_ sort of two-and-two work with him in _any_ classes. Quite understandable, he really didn’t blame her for doing so! He’d been an ass and now he reaped what he had sown, he very well knew that.

  
He’d talked with Scorpius about this the night before; Scorpius wished she would be just as angry at him as she were at Albus. I was my fault after all, he muttered with a sad smile, shrugging with one shoulder. Albus had hugged him and said that he could’ve talked with her before and told her the truth. They’d sat like that, arms wrapped around one another, their heads rested against each other when they at some point had found themselves lying in Albus’ bed.  
Scorpius had drawn the curtains and bewitched the bed’s ceiling so it looked like the starry night sky and pointed at every constellation he knew, out to Albus, who’d been more fascinated by staring at the boy next to him than the impressive ceiling. Scorpius shone like Venus as he lied there and talked passionately about each constellation. The starstruck Albus felt that he could just lay there and listen to him forever, lay there and look at him and feel this supernova of happiness explode in his chest. Albus must’ve fallen asleep very suddenly, because he couldn’t remember it, but when he’d woken up this morning, he wasn't alone in his bed.

  
“Albus?” Lily’s voice broke through his wall of thoughts.  
“What?” he stared at her with a bright red blush across his brown skin, blinking a few times. “Did you say something?”  
“Who’re you bringing?” she repeated with an eye-roll.  
 Galloping gargoyles.  
Albus’ eyes grew as wide as Hogwarts’ clock, he opened and closed his mouth a few times but didn’t know what to answer. Honestly, he had no idea. Or. Well, he _had_ an idea but –  
“Bring Scorpius?”

  
What?

  
“What?” Albus turned his head to her, so fast that his neck made a cracking sound.  
“What?” she shrugged. “If not him who then?”  
Well – he realised she was right. If not Scorpius, then who? He didn’t have anyone else he could ask nor anyone else he wanted to ask to the Yule Ball! Lily looked at her brother with a wide smile and said: “Just ask him!” before pulling on his scarf, teasing him, “I’m pretty sure that you won’t get a no!”  
He rolled his eyes at her with a hidden smile. It wasn’t Scorpius’ answer he was afraid of – in truth, Scorpius would probably go with him to Hell and back if he asked him to. It was their cousin’s sharp tongue and her stupid Karl Jenkins. Maybe it was an irrational fear? He thought to himself, looking at an owl that soared over the cream-white sky. Yes… she wasn’t the one to dictate his every move! He straightened his back at his thought, nodding determined. Rose and Karl Jenkins could talk all they wanted and snicker behind his back, they shouldn’t hold him back from going out with – _going to the Yule Ball with Scorpius_! He thought with a light blush, tugged the scarf up so it hid half of his face.

  
“So?” Lily nudged her shoulder to his with a mischievous smile. Albus met her eyes, returning her smile. “So~?” she sing-song with a light chuckle and gently pushed him this time, making him sway where he stood. “You’re blushing, Albus, you’re blushing~” Lily poked his cheek to get him to look at her again.  
He sighed with a raised eyebrow and smiled widely to her. “I’ll ask him,” he said with a nod.


	11. Thursday, 11pm, December 22nd

Scorpius couldn’t sleep. He hadn’t closed an eye for two days now – literally. The last two nights, he’d just lied there, tossing and turning in his bed for hours before getting out and walked up to the common room to stare at the dark lake. One time, a mermaid had swum past him a few times and waved to him. He believed that she could feel his restlessness and inner frustration. Even when he’d had his late-night talk with Albus twenty-four hours prior, he didn’t sleep; he’d watched the boy next to him fall fast asleep even though he’d tried so hard to stay awake, tried so hard to keep up with him and engage in the conversation. Around twelve Albus’d gone cold with a weird squeaky noise, leaving Scorpius bright awake with an aching heart. He’d turned around in the bed to get back to his own, but didn’t want to wake the other boys, let alone the one next to him, so he’d lied back and practiced some spells on the bed ceiling. When Albus’ alarm clock had rung, he’d pretended to sleep and got ‘woken up’ by his friend’s hand on his shoulder. He hadn’t felt such a weird pain, not since their horribly failed ‘adventures’ with the Time Turner.

  
Right now, he was turning in his bed, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in; on the right side, no, he groaned, the left side, nah, he sighed, on his back, hardly, he growled, how about on the stomach, tsch forget it, maybe curled up, nope, he moaned, what about –  
“Will you stop?!” Albus’ hiss cut through the ‘silent’ night. “You sound like a dying Jobberknoll!”  
“Sorry!” Scorpius whispered with a blush and hid under his duvet, so only some blonde ringlets could be seen. “I just can’t sleep…”  
“Oh, Scorpius, I could never have guessed!” Albus groaned dryly. His duvet rustled when he sat up and rubbed his eyes. Scorpius sighed at the other’s barbed remark. “What’s gotten to you, Scorp?” the question came out softly in the night. He shrugged even though he knew that Albus couldn’t see it.

  
“Nightmare,” he lied and sat up, drawing the curtains back to look at the boy in the other bed. Their eyes locked for a moment before Albus broke the eye-contact and got out of bed; he picked up his duvet and tip-toed across the room, yawning and without a word, he slithered into Scorpius' bed, tucking them in in their duvets, so they worked like one big cover. His jade-green eyes locked with the other’s apophyllite-grey; in the dark they shone like small stars, Albus thought and a little smile broke on his lips. Without thinking, he stroked a finger across Scorpius’ cheek, his smile widened at the bright-pink blush. Whatever thoughts that ran through his friend’s mind, Scorpius might never know – all he knew right now was that he had a raging urge to kiss the boy in front of him. He frowned as he suppressed the urge, unknowingly breathing harder. This feeling… Scorpius swallowed a lump.

  
 He was in love. Deeply, seriously, silly head-over heels in love!

  
His heart beat faster in his chest, so hard, that he was afraid it would burst!  
“Albus, I – “ he whispered but got cut off by Albus pulling him into a close hug, resting his chin on top of his head. He felt the other yawn and decided to stay quiet. He suddenly felt tired… very tired…  
“Sweet dreams, Scorpius,” Albus muttered. He could feel the other’s breath on his hair, he thought as he closed his eyes.  
 Trust me, they fell asleep faster than you can say Quidditch.


	12. Saturday, 8.35am, December 24th

“ALBUS!” Albus jolted awake and fell out of his bed with a loud FUMP! “Albus, come on!” it was Scorpius who were screaming at him up from the common room (he’d amplified his voice with the Sonorus-spell). Hearing his best friend’s excited tone, he decided that it was probably worth getting out of… getting up from the floor for. He took his wrist-watch from the nightstand and looked at it – 8.35, Voldemort on a broomstick, he groaned, a groan that went in to a big yawn, so big that he could probably have swallowed a Re’em. Up on his way to the common room, he pushed his long bangs back and gathered the big hair in a ponytail.  
“What?” he yawned when he saw Scorpius, standing next to a big Christmas tree with a little hill of gifts underneath. The blonde was already dressed, shining like the tree top’s star and Albus couldn’t help but smile at the boy’s excited face. In the corner, the gramophone played an old muggle jazz-song by Louis Jordan. _Your socks don’t match_? Albus thought, recognising the wind instrument’s toot.  
“Presents!” Scorpius exclaimed as he waved his arm to the little pile under the tree. Presents? Now? Weren’t they for tomorrow? Hm, he shrugged and sought for any present with a tag with his name on. Ah, there was one; he carefully pulled it out without making an avalanche of gifts before sitting next to Scorpius on the floor.

 _To Albus  
_ _From Grandma_

“Mrs. Weasley!” Scorpius smiled and scootched over to sit closer to Albus, a hand behind his back when he leant against his shoulder. It was probably something knitted. It was always something knitted and Albus loved it! He must have a hundred home-knitted socks and jumpers with his initials or some motif on the chest. Last year he’d gotten an oversized jumper with a miniature him and Scorpius on each sleeve (even though he wouldn’t admit it and hardly ever wore it, he loved it to pieces).

“ _Dear Albus, merry Christmas and happy new year. I hope you and Scorpius will enjoy yourselves over the break and that the food is good -_

“Sweet,” Scorpius chuckled, “I’ve heard she’s a great cook, so the food here probably doesn’t reach her level,”  
Albus nodded, “Granny’s Christmas dinner is extraordinary!” he touched the gift so the paper rustled lightly before continuing to read: “ _give my love to Scorpius, too. Love grandma_ ,” he blushed lightly at the last sentence. He was sure that the other did, too, but he still looked at him with a little smile. He put the card in his lap and unwrapped the soft present; an oversized, green and silver jumper with a big A on the chest and a pair of socks in the darkest purple he’d ever seen with pink letters. “Look,” he smiled as he held them together; the right had an A and a funny curve, the left had a P and the same curve, just laterally reversed. He put the jumper on to keep the cold a-bay and then the socks with a smile, and held his feet together. He looked so mismatched! Scorpius thought with little shake of his head.  
“Look!” Albus giggled jolly, “they form a S!” he wiggled his feet with a happy smile. “Oh, I should give you my love from grandma,” he quickly added with a little shrug.  
“Albus,” the other raised an eyebrow at him, “you said _my love_.”

  
By Voldemort’s stiff –

  
“No, I didn’t?” Albus exclaimed in a high-pitched voice, so high that his voice cracked. Niffler! He cursed when he looked around to make sure, that no-one heard him. They were the only ones near the Christmas tree. In a sofa suite by the fireplace, a little group of four years sat, tucked in in something that looked like twenty blankets and rapped Eminem (Albus cast a glance at the blonde, whom were gawking at them and mouthed ‘muggleborns’ in awe). “I didn’t!” he hissed lowly after a few seconds of looking at the little group, leaning in so only Scorpius could hear him. He chuckled at him but quickly bit it in him when he got a scowl.  
“Okay,” he smiled and leant his forehead against the other’s, seeing that he shortly lost his breath, “if you say so,”  
Oh Merlin… he could feel Albus’ soft breath on his skin, see all the little green variations in his eyes, some ringlets tickled his cheek. Don’t, he thought, drawing a trembling breath. Don’t just lean in… and…

  
 STOP!

  
His body moved forward on its own accord, no, shit, stop yourself, Scorpius, stop, stop, STOP!  
 Albus moved his head to the side, not looking at him. W-was this a rejection? Was he scared? Did he not want this? Did I cross the line? Scorpius’ head buzzed with unpleasant questions, they made his heart race faster than a centaur.  
“Scorpius,” Albus spoke lowly, looking at him from behind the bangs, “do you, per chance, want to go to the Yule Ball with me tomorrow?” he finally faced him, a ruby-red blush across his brown cheeks and a shy smile, an expression he didn’t know he could do.  
“With all my heart!” his face cracked into a way-too-wide smile and couldn’t help but hugging him.  
“Do we hug?” Albus chuckled as he put his arms around his waist.  
Scorpius nodded: “Yes, we do, clotpole!” he laughed when he pulled away, looking at his friend. When he glanced around, the little group in the corner was looking at them.  
 Some of them smiled and exchanged a few galleons.


	13. Saturday, 7.10pm, December 24th

Albus fixed his hair for the one-zillionth time. The mix of straight strands, rebel ringlets and curvy curls stood out to each of Earth’s corners. “Hm!” he growled and flipped his bangs away, adjusted his vest over the shoulders. He knew it was only the feast but he did want to look just a little bit good! He was wearing a black button-up shirt with a white vest and a red bowtie. This was usually his new year-outfit but he thought he might as well use it for the feast. A radio in the corner played Cole Porter’s _Let’s Do It_. He hummed along as he moved his head from left to right, taking a final look at himself.

  
“Knock knock,” the sound of fingernails tapping on the doorframe reached his ears. “Merlin’s beard!” Scorpius whispered when Albus turned around. “Look at you, handsome~” he sing-song, making the black-haired boy roll his eyes, so high, that he probably looked God in the eye at some point. Scorpius placed his hands on the other’s hips, swaying him a bit to the tunes from the radio. Albus laughed and swayed with him, but flung himself away (managing to trip over his own feet) when one of the other boys walked in.  
 The boy smiled to them, dropped his stuff and exited the dorm room. Albus didn’t like the way he had smiled – it looked so _annoyingly_ … annoyingly knowing! It was the kind of smile you have when you walk up behind another person to give them a fright. Albus shook his head with a sour expression but it magically vanished when Scorpius put his hands back on his hips (weren’t they further down than before) and began to sway again.  
“Got to practice for tomorrow!” he shrugged with a teasing smile in the corner of his mouth, as he moved one hand to rest on Albus’ waist, taking his hand and took a few waltzing steps around the heater, that stood in the middle of the dorm room.

  
“Where did you learn how to dance?” Albus raised a surprised eyebrow as they slowly twirled around in the room to the soft tunes from the radio.  
“I’m a Malfoy,” he said quietly and shrugged again. His hair was pushed back and only a few strands had escaped, hanging like silver-threads. His suit had the same beautiful colour as an iolite-gem, it hugged his figure so perfectly. On his left index finger, a silver ring shimmered in the dim light like an Occamy’s scales.  
“Scorpius…” said Albus quietly, almost a whisper. “We should go up,” he stopped the dancing, “we’re already late.”  
The blonde nodded but neither of them let go of the other’s hand.


	14. Sunday, 1.10am, December 25th

Albus couldn’t sleep.

  
His chest was bubbling with happiness, his heart raced from excitement. Scorpius and he had found seats farthest down the benches and had enjoyed each other’s company there. He had noticed some glances from the other students (Headmistress McGonagall had looked at him over her glasses’ edge with a hidden smile, too). But it hadn’t bothered him, odd enough. He’d felt happier for some reason. Right now, he lied there in the dark, smiling giddily at the thought of the ball tonight. Scorpius lied in his own bed, snoring quietly, his own bed suddenly seemed so big and empty when the other boy wasn’t at his side.

  
 He was in love. Deeply, seriously, silly head-over heels in love!

  
Albus had known that for a long time now but hadn’t had the guts to admit it to himself.  
Not before now. Not before Scorpius would drag him to the library or outside to the grounds, just to have him by his side as he’d read in complete silence. Not before Scorpius had dumped himself on his back that evening. Not before Scorpius had stood so close to him in the dungeon corridor. Not before Scorpius had fallen asleep on his shoulder and later whispered in his ear. Not before Scorpius and he had fooled around all the way to Hogsmeade. Not before they’d drunk hot chocolate and tea at Puddifoot’s and Scorpius had smiled so tenderly to him. Not before Scorpius had rested his head on his chest later that day. Not before Scorpius and he had lied so close in the silent night, arms wrapped around each other.

  
 And certainly not before sixteen hours ago, when Scorpius had leaned in so close that his lips were mere millimetres from his own and he could feel the other’s warm breath on them.

  
Not before they’d twirled around to the soft jazz-tunes from the radio in the corner. Not before they’d sat in the farthest end of the benches and touched each other’s fingertips, his cold against Scorpius’ warm. Not before they’d held hands as they’d taken a walk in the snow. Not before they’d intertwined their fingers as they walked down to the Slytherin-dungeon to warm their hands.  
And certainly, not before they’d stood outside the dorm-door, foreheads resting against each other, eyes closed to let the other senses feel; feel the warm, gentle gust of the other’s silent breath, hear the steady, calm pound from the other’s heartbeat, smell the scents from the other’s shampoo.  
Albus felt his chest squeeze in longing to hold Scorpius in his arms, to look in to his beautiful crystal-eyes.

  
Maybe even kiss him…


	15. Sunday, 8pm-12am, December 25th

Scorpius fixed his robes for the one-zillionth time. His stomach was filled with butterflies, his head with wrackspurts. The words 'I'm going to the Yule Ball with Albus' kept sounding in his head, making him smile all giddy. The Potter-boy was out changing to his robes, making Scorpius wonder how they looked; he'd never seen Albus in formal clothes but he had an idea of that the boy would look absolutely handsome! He blushed a bit at the thought, pushed his hair back to push the image of Albus out of his head. Okay, he thought and went back to looking at himself. His dark-green robes sat straight as a ruler, shone like a Thunderbird. ”Scorpius,” he looked up at the sound of Albus' soft voice. Scorpius' jaw dropped; Albus was wearing night-blue robes and a nervous smile. ”H-how do I look?” he stuttered with a questioning eyebrow.  
”Stunning...!” Scorpius whispered, making Albus look away with a little smile and shake his head. ”I mean it!” he chuckled as he walked over to him and placed his hands on his upper arms to get a better look at him. ”Ready?”  
”Ready.”

  
Albus held his hand out to him and he took it, giving it a little squeeze. Halfway through their walk to the Great Hall, they intertwined their fingers but when the sound of the other students' voice reached their ears, they quickly let go, both feeling a little sting in their hearts.   
 Headmistress McGonagall stood in the middle of the breath-taking hall; it was a true winter-wonderland, snow fell from the enchanted ceiling but disappeared halfway through the descend, the twelve giant-tall Christmas trees were beautifully decorated with gold-, red-, green- and bronze-ornaments and a fine layer of snow, dusted like confectionary sugar over waffles. The long-tables and benches had been removed and instead, small round tables stood spread around the first part of the hall, so there was an open space in the back of the hall for dancing.

  
Dancing... Albus gulped at the thought of having to waltz gracefully around with Scorpius, when he felt he was anything but graceful. He looked around and found that almost everyone looked at him and Scorpius. He caught Rose gawk and Karl Jenkins snicker at them but felt better when Lily sent him thumbs up and a wide, excited smile. He smiled back to her, even though it was a bit strained.  
It was the seventh-years who had to open the ball, then came the sixth-years and so forth. Albus' nervousness made him feel dizzy so he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Everything would be okay, he thought, everything would be COMPLETELY HORRENDOUS, MERLIN'S BEARD! Scorpius had grabbed his hand and pulled him to the dance floor and now he put his hand on his waist, taking the male-lead! Albus shook his head with wide eyes and furrowed brows – I can't do this! It said. Scorpius' mouth curved slightly in the corners into a tiny smile – you'll be fine, it said.

  
“You’ll be fine,” Scorpius leant in and whispered as they waltzed, the sound of his soft voice sent a calming wave over him. The blonde was an excellent dancer so all he had to do was to follow his lead. Over the other’s shoulder, he sometimes got eye contact with Rose and Karl Jenkins but somehow it didn’t matter. Their gazes didn’t matter nor did their whispering.  
The only thing that mattered right now was this weightless feeling that he got, when he danced with Scorpius, the flutters from the butterflies in his stomach that made his body tingle, the beautiful boy in front of him that made his heart race.  
Only this mattered right now.  
At some point their feet got tired and they stumbled to a table. Albus saved them seats while Scorpius went for drinks. He sighed with a happy smile, staring at his feet when a person dumped themselves next to him.

  
“Brother!” Lily’s voice sounded so excited and jolly. “I didn’t know you could dance~” chuckled she as she gently pushed his shoulder with hers.  
“I can’t,” he laughed and looked at her. “What’re you wearing?” he furrowed his eyebrows as he eyed the dress with a curious look.  
“It was mum’s,” she smiled proudly, “from her first yule ball!”  
Ah, Albus nodded upwards with a little face, that cracked into a wide smile when he saw Scorpius come their way with drinks in his hands.  
“Lily!” he smiled as he sat down next to Albus – weren’t they quite close? Lily thought. “I should’ve brought you something to drink, too!” he was on his way to go back but Albus pulled him back.  
“It’s fine,” she shook her head, “you’re a good dancer,”  
Scorpius couldn’t hold back a shy, yet proud smile. “I-it’s nothing!” he shrugged.  
“Scorp, you _are_ a good dancer,” her brother nodded. Lily squinted her eyes at the boys’ interaction; Scorpius sat so close, Albus had locked his one leg around the other’s, their free hand’s fingers were lightly intertwined – oh Merlin, was that… was that a little caress? She wasn’t sure, but wasn’t her brother stroking the other’s knuckles with his fingertip?  
“Lily?” she tore her eyes from their hands when she heard her name.  
“Yes?”  
“Who are you with?” Scorpius smiled to her. She pointed to a boy in a far-off corner, telling them she had Charms with him.

  
“Scorpius, they’re playing the Weird Sisters, come on!” Albus flew up and pull on the other’s arm to get him to the dance floor. He followed him with a chuckle and soon Lily witnessed something heartwarming; her brother laughed as she hadn’t seen him do before, he twirled around, hand in hand with the taller boy, yes, they seemed so weightless and carefree in this moment, their noses touched at times and when they did, their eyes locked and it was painfully obvious to the world that they wanted to kiss each other, to love each other without any worries.  
 She really wished she could just smack their heads together or at least just tape them together with Spello-tape.

  
“They’re _really_ enjoying themselves, huh!” Lily jumped when Rose slumped down next to her, a sour expression on her face as she crossed her arms.  
“What’s wrong?” Lily asked her cousin, reluctantly turning her attention to her instead of the sight of her happy brother.  
“Nothing.” she scoffed but nodded after she got a scowl from the other girl. “Doesn’t it annoy you?” she nodded to the boys in the middle of the dancefloor. “He’s a Malfoy.”  
“Does it annoy me?” Lily shot her a glare that could’ve scared off Voldemort. “Does it annoy me to see my brother happy?” she tilted her head to emphasize just _how_ stupid Rose had sounded. She seemed to realise it herself because she nodded and looked at the dancing boys.

  
They shone, they did, as they danced and laughed and goofed and stole small eskimo-kisses from each other and didn’t give two Galleons about the rest of the students. The falling snow really did it as the cherry on top of the cake of this picture-perfect scene that happened in front of their eyes. Albus had stopped dancing but hadn’t let go of the other’s hands. He looked up with a thoughtful expression, as if he tried to remember something. Then Lily realised what it was. They’d changed the music to one of the Weird Sisters’ more lovey songs. From where she sat it looked like her brother said something in the way of ‘I love this song!’ and Scorpius answered ‘me, too’.  
It could be wishful thinking, but she was quite sure of it because their bouncy dance got replaced with Albus being pulled into a close hug and there they just stood, swaying in their own little world. Albus put his arms around the other boy’s neck before he rested his forehead against his shoulder with a peaceful smile. Scorpius’ arms locked around his waist and smiled just as peaceful. Out of the corner of her eye, Lily saw Rose drop her jaw at this.

  
“Are you seeing this, too?” she whispered and looked down at her. She nodded with a smile.  
“Yes, Rose,” said she with a little sigh, “I am seeing this!”  
“So am I.” Karl Jenkins butted in and flopped down next to Rose with a cackle. “Didn’t know your cousin would embarrass himself on a night like this!”  
Both Rose and Lily stared at him. What was he even drinking? “Firewhiskey!” he smirked as if he’d read their minds. “Good~”  
“Why would you say something like that?” Lily asked with a frown. “That’s an awful thing to say…” she looked him dead in the eye.  
“What?” the older guy scoffed at her, “can’t I have some fun?” he shook his head at her, muttering something in the lines of ‘stupid girl’ before taking a good swig of the firewhiskey.  
“You’re not being _funny_.” Rose shot him a glare. “You’re being mean. And I,” she sighed deeply and got up, “have had enough of you.” And with those words, she turned on her heel and stomped out of the Great Hall with a drunk Karl Jenkins after her, trying to apologise. Stupid man, Lily thought and turned her attention back to – where’d they gone?

 

***

 

“No, shh!” Albus shushed the other boy as they floundered through the court yard, giggling. They found their balance when they stood on the stairs that led to the boathouse and looked over the lake. In the distance, you could spot the tiny lights from Hogsmeade. The moon stood high, a giant ball of silver light that lit everything up with its gentle kiss and the snow kissed the moonlight back. Scorpius put his hand on Albus’ and looked at him. The boy next to him was a far better view than the landscape which he’d seen a million times! The snowflakes in Albus' onyx-black hair, it looked like the stars on the dark night-sky, the light-red blush across his cheeks from the cold, his green eyes shone and the moonlight touched his brown skin so carefully. Albus didn’t turn to him but he couldn’t hold his lips curving into a little smile. His fine lips… Scorpius took his hand and pulled him lightly to get his attention; he got it and stepped closer, looking at the shorter boy as he cupped his jaw, running his thumb over his chin.

  
 Scorpius was so close that Albus could feel his breath, could hear his heartbeat in the silent night. The green emeralds darted up to meet the grey apophyllite crystals. He gulped. He didn’t know what to do with his arms or hands, so he let them hang loose down his sides. The gentle strokes across his chin made him feel warm inside, even though it was freezing out here in the snow. He opened his mouth to speak but couldn’t find his voice nor the words to express himself. The world held its breath and time seemed to freeze around them, as they stood there, so close, exchanging soft eskimo-kisses and small glances. If he just toed… should he? All it took was _one_ motion. All it took was a little courage. All it took was that he closed his eyes and toed. That was all. That was –  
“Rose, please!”  
They flinched away from each other when the shout blared in the court yard, followed by angry footsteps and they fled in different directions.

Their lips had barely touched, not even brushed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY, this chapter is HOURS late because I've been super busy all weekend! >;;A;;< I'M SO SORRY


	16. Wednesday, 9.45am, December 28th

“Scorpius, you can’t use a liquorice wand as a nose!” Albus sighed deeply with an annoyed eye-roll.  
“Why not?” Scorpius exclaimed with a pout. “It looks good!” he waved his arms to the fat snowman next to him.  
“Because,” Albus stomped over to him, removing the sweet, “it’s a _wand_! You can’t have a _wand_ as a _nose_!” he then stuck it in one of the snowballs that acted as hands, “there,” he nodded as he crossed his arms and looked at the other, “much better!”

  
Scorpius sighed; yes, it did look better but it didn’t look as funny, he thought with tilted head. Since Sunday, Albus had been on the verge to lash out at anyone who’d put his teeth on edge (actually, he had already sent a firework of jinxes after a first year Hufflepuff who’d accidentally spilled juice on his shoe at breakfast the other day). Scorpius knew _why_ he was so on edge, he just didn’t know how to get their conversation to… _that_.  
In fact, since Sunday, they’d barely had a proper conversation! It always ended up in Albus snapping at him or shot him down with barbed remarks – it was tiring, extremely tiring and it hurt like the cruciatus curse. Yesterday he’d almost smacked the Potter-boy because he’d gotten so annoyed!

  
“Scorpius!” Albus shook his head at him with an attitude that invited a jinxing. “Carrot?” he held his hand out, still looking at him. “Come on!” Scorpius sniffed at him and dug through his satchel. Here, he sneered lightly when he threw the carrot to the other. “Thanks.” he hissed sharply as he fumbling caught it and stuck it in the face of the snowman. He took his wand out and with a little wave, conjured stones for eyes, a pipe and a comb as mouth. “Put them on,” he literally ordered the blonde, “and – “  
“That’s it!” Scorpius threw the pipe at him. “Talk to me!”

  
Albus turned his head to the shouting boy with a startled expression.  
“What in Merlin’s name has got your wand in a knot?!” he tramped over to him, bend down to pick up a good mix of snow and dirt and threw it on him. “If you could just act like a normal person for two seconds!”  
“Scorpius!” Albus exclaimed so his voice cracked. “What’s gotten my wand in a knot?” he pointed at himself before pointing an accusing finger to the Malfoy, “what’s gotten _your_ wand in a knot?!”  
“Well, you have!” he took a step closer and head-butted him lightly, forcing the shorter boy to step backwards. “You’ve been acting like an idiot for the past days! Get down from your high Hippogriff, will you!” Scorpius grabbed Albus’ arms.  
He gulped. He couldn’t remember when he’d last seen Scorpius angry… but he had every right to be angry. Once again, he’d been an ass and once again, he reaped what he’d sowed. “I’m sorry…” he muttered after a moment and looked away, scratching his cheek with his index finger.  
“Will you get down from that hippogriff?” Scorpius said milder with a little smile, a smile that widened when Albus nodded. He cupped his face to make the other look at him. Their eyes met for a moment and they both drew a deep sigh as if they exhaled the anger from before. “Albus…” Scorpius whispered and pressed a kiss to his forehead. Oh dear. “By Voldemort’s left nipple!” he gasped and moved away with his hands in front of his mouth. Albus’ ears were blood-red and it wasn’t from the cold! Had he just…? Did he… he blinked a few times, trying to comprehend what’d just happened.


	17. Wednesday, 9.30pm, December 28th

Albus moved his leg a bit so it lied on top of Scorpius’. If you stood a bit away, it looked like they were braided together. He rested a book on the back of the sofa like he did with his elbow, supporting his cheek on his fist; Scorpius lied in the other end of the sofa with a book resting on his thighs, mouthing the words in silence. The fire cackled peacefully on Albus’ right side and a couple of merpeople looked in with interested glances – interested glances at Scorpius and him, he realised after they hadn’t butted off after twenty minutes. Why were they there? He thought and shot them an arched eyebrow. He sighed and looked back on the faded pages but found himself too curious about the merpeople’s weird behaviour, that he put the book down and stared back at them, having a little ‘don’t blink’-game with them.  
“Al, what’re you doing?” Scorpius was chuckling at his serious face. “They’re always like that,” he shrugged and returned to his reading again.  
“What do you mean?” Albus turned his judging eyebrow to him, shrugging with one shoulder.  
“They always stare at us when we’re in sofas near the window,” the blonde sighed as if it was obvious, not looking up at him. What…? He thought and looked thoughtfully at them again. He’d never noticed that…

  
“Albus.” His eyes darted to the left when Debra’s voice reached his ears. What did she want? He thought and nested his arms on the sofa’s back with raised eyebrows. “I, uhm…” she seemed… uncomfortable? No, nervous. No, nervously uncomfortable! He thought. “We, erh,” she glanced over her shoulder to a little group of girls a bit away from them, “we were wondering… if… are you and… and – “ she nodded to Scorpius who didn’t give two galleons about her. “Are you and Scorpius dating?” it blurted out of her in a high-pitched voice, so the whole common room heard it; suddenly, all eyes were on them, the chatter and buzzing faded away.  
 Voldemort on a broomstick.  
“Albus, are we dating?” his eyes darted back to the other boy. “You should’ve told me, I’d put my book down,” his words were dripping with sarcasm, like, when had he learnt how to be sarcastic?

  
Debra’s eyes ping-ponged from him to the other. Why did Albus look so indifferent? Why did Scorpius not look up from his book? Did he joke? It was clear that these were the thoughts, that buzzed in her head as she tried to figure out what was going on – like the rest of the common room.  
“Didn’t I tell you this morning, dear?” Albus decided to play along and answered him in the same sugar-coated sarcasm.  
“Alby, I _really_ don’t recall that!” Scorpius sighed dramatically and finally looked at him – dead in the eye, making Albus gulp. He tilted his head slightly in the direction to the stairs down to the dorm-rooms and the other shut his book, got up and skid that way, not waiting one second. Voldy! Albus thought and hurried up to catch up with him. Over his shoulder, he saw a flabbergasted Debra (and fifty other faces, give or take).

  
Scorpius took his hand when they were out of sight from the others. He held so tight, Albus thought, it hurt a bit, but he was sure that the other had a reason for the tension. He laced his fingers with Scorpius’ and slowed down their hasty walk; gently, he pulled the other back to him and looked him in the eye, brushing a few stray strands away from his face. He placed a hand on his chest and a little smile broke on his lips.  
“Your heart is racing,” said he quietly.  
Scorpius nodded, “I know.” He whispered with a blush. Oh god, here came the clutching feeling in his chest again, the urge to just lean down and kiss him, hold him, run his fingers through the tousled hair, listen to his heartbeat.  
 One minute, they found themselves outside the dorm-door, foreheads resting against each other, Albus brushing small eskimo-kisses to Scorpius’ nose. Oh god, here came the cramped feeling in his stomach, the urge to put his arms around his neck and kiss him, hold him, run his fingers through the silk-soft hair, listen to his heartbeat.

  
The next minute, they found themselves next to the heater in the middle of the room, foreheads resting against each other, Scorpius running his fingertips over Albus’ jaw. He heard the other gulp and cleared his throat. _Scorpius_ , he whispered oh so softly and put his arms around his waist, drawing a shaking breath. He could feel the warm air on his cold lips, it sent shudders down his spine. He bit his tongue and looked down at the other; his face was mere millimetres away from his, their noses squished slightly together, their lips… he pulled back a bit, sort of as a stop-signal to himself.  
 Albus toed and brushed his lips over Scorpius’, feeling the cramping tie a knot on itself, his heart put itself on fire so his whole body hurt. He met the other’s eyes, searching for any sign of… of what?  
 Had he just…? Did he… he blinked a few times, trying to comprehend what’d just happened.

Scorpius cupped Albus’ jaw and pressed their lips together in a longing kiss – he’d wanted this for far too long and judging by the way Albus returned his kiss, he’d wanted it for far too long as well.


	18. Thursday, 11.30pm, December 29th

"Hey, Albus, are you sleeping?" Scorpius whispered.  
"I  _was_ ," a dry answer came some time after. Albus turned in his sleep, rubbing his eye, "what?" he groaned.  
"Remember that my amortentia smelled like bubblegum but not the bubblegum you gave me, right?" his grey eyes lit up with excitement. He nodded and wondered how the boy had thought of that so late. "I found the bubblegum!" he whispered dramtically as he leant close to Albus' ear. He'd found it by chance when he'd rummaged in the other's bag for a bottle of ink, this morning. There were only one odd thing about it... "It's not bubblegum!" Scorpius shrugged in his horizontal position.  
"It's not bubblegum...?" Albus' tone dripped with ice-cold annoyance (Scorpius took a mental note that he should never wake him in the night unless the dorm was on fire or they were drowning). "Scorp... go to sleep..." he yawned as he turned his back to the blonde.  
"No," Scorpius put his hand on his shoulder and rolled him back to him, kissing his nose when he faced him. Albus couldn't bite down a smile and curiously followed him with his eyes when he reached over him to get something from the nightstand, "this!" he smiled widely.  
 A chapstick.  
A completely, ordinary muggle chapstick.  
"It smells  _exactly_ like the bubblegum I smell from amortentia!" Albus raised his famous eyebrow at him and snatched the chapstick.  
"It smells like jojoba, you twat!" he whispered to not wake up the other boys, the other famous eyebrow followed when he got a clueless 'eh?' from the other. Albus sighed deeply as he gave Scorpius a little swat over the forehead with it and put it back on the nightstand.  
"You can be really evil when you're tired!" Scorpius pouted but smiled instantly when Albus put his arms around his neck, cuddling close and pressed a few sweet kisses to his lips.  
"Good night, Scorpius~" he cooed softly. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus!


End file.
